


Tarnished

by impudent_strumpet



Category: Carciphona (Webcomic)
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Blood, Flashback, Gen, Graphic Description, Kronzel, Lots of it, MURDERRRRRRRR, Murder, Old Fanfic, One Shot, Palace, Psychological Trauma, Sorcerers, Well-Written, mass-killing, murder witness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 22:45:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9094063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impudent_strumpet/pseuds/impudent_strumpet
Summary: An old fanfic I wrote when I was 16 and into Shilin Huang's webcomic Carciphona...easily my best writing piece from back then XD Masked_Man_2 was a big fan of this, so I decided to post it :)A random one-shot about my Carciphona OC Lilera, the royal page of Kronzel...essentially a memoir of a traumatic, soul-crushing experience of hers and several others from five years ago, when Blackbird was active. Besides that, though, something surprising and confusing happened to Lilera...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Night Light, Ch 2](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/251263) by AmberPalette. 
  * Inspired by [Silent Night](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/251494) by Shilin Huang. 



Lilera would never forget that night, or that person.  
No sorcerer had ever come to possess such power. Most could not even comprehend it. Yet this treacherous person had wielded it so effortlessly.  
The memory of that night would scar Lilera forever, and visions of the horrific event would haunt her. It was a dark, gaping hole in her heart.  
  
She was eleven years old. She had been a page for the kingdom of Kronzel for a year. Kronzel seemed to be having disputes with other countries, especially the powerful Raschecura. It worried Lilera a bit, as Kronzel was not a strong country. She was not allowed to read any of the messages she sent, so she had to rely on Minister Meron for world affairs. There never seemed to be any immediate threat, though the days were still packed and Lilera felt like she was running around all over the place sending messages.  
  
It was nighttime at the end of one of those days. The autumn of 731 had been such a stressful few months, and Lilera and the others were exhausted. The king had gone to bed especially early, and everyone else had followed. But to Lilera, the restful evening served as a stimulant. She was tired, but relished in the break.  
  
She told herself to stay up only for a little while. She stayed in her clothes and kept her cornsilk hair in its braid. She sat cross-legged on her bed, reading a book about demon magic by candlelight.  
  
Demon magic was easy and enjoyable. It had made people's lives so much easier, and was really the reason that humanity was where it is today in 731.  
  
Lilera's parents used demon magic, and they were talented, but not prodigious like some of the famous sorcerers that Lilera had heard of.  
  
Lilera read eagerly, intrigued and almost mesmerized by the words and vivid pictures. Demon magic seemed almost like an art. It was so attractive, so alluring, so decadent, with a tempting, almost seductive pull. Lilera was fascinated, and more enlightened with every word she read.  
  
Her eyelids eventually grew heavy. No. She did not want to stop reading. Not at where she was. But the book slipped from her grasp and she fell back against the luxurious pillows and satin sheets as sleep overtook her.  
  
_BOOM!_  
  
The whole palace seemed to shake. Lilera awoke with a start by the deafening sound after a mere few hours of deep sleep. She heard orders being barked, and people running up and down the stairs.  
  
"Lilera! Are you ok?!" she heard Meron call.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine!" She slipped out of bed and threw on the black ballet flats that Meron had given her for her birthday last year. She rushed out of her chamber into the hallway, where she found Meron.  
  
"Let's go." Meron grabbed Lilera's wrist and hurried down the stairs as though the palace were on fire. Lilera obliviously let herself be pulled along.  
  
Meron threw open the palace doors and ran outside toward the source of the sound. Lilera wrinkled her nose as a rusty stench filled the air. It smelled mysteriously of fresh blood.  
  
They stopped at a dark street full of terrified people. The people screamed, wailed, howled, up and down the streets.  
  
Lilera saw why as they passed.  
  
Still corpses lay in the streets with stunned expressions and eyes wide open. Lilera noticed faint glowing orbs, remnants of magic, above their dead bodies. She scrutinized the extravagance of their clothes, the aura of wisdom about them...  
  
They could have been nothing short of the most highly skilled and esteemed sorcerers.  
  
Lilera felt tears sting her eyes. Who would do such a thing to innocent people?  
  
Almost in response, a figure tore through the air in Lilera's peripheral vision. Lilera turned to see a silhouette flip through the air and brandish a sword as it landed, with the effortless, awe-inspiring skill of a ninja.  
  
The silhouette's opponent appeared. A sorcerer. His clothes were torn, and Lilera was worried to see some bleeding gashes, but he was still standing.  
  
The silhouette emerged to show...  
  
A girl.  
  
She looked so young, no more than thirteen. Her skin was smooth and fresh, the color of sand. Her hair was tied back with a red headwrap, yet thick and unbridled, streaks of ebony and ivory. Her long bangs hung over her face, that imparted two vibrant silver eyes framed by long black lashes. They were laughing, almost playful, but shone with clear sadism and malice. A tiny sneer of infinite contempt played at her lips.  
  
She wore a white satin tunic with gold trim, small chopsticks in her ponytail, white toe socks, and sandals. Yet those Oriental garments were paired with a tight black waistband, shorts, and knee socks, each laced with crimson ropes, that bordered on the hardcore. A bright red scarf was tied loosely around her neck, that rested atop her shoulders, trailing out behind her. Hoop earrings swung from her earlobes. Her right hand gripped a sword slick with fresh crimson blood. Her left arm was heavily bandaged, for some reason, and on her wrist...was a stunningly powerful bracelet. It held a luminous beryl orb, flickering neon green with magic, embedded between two silver wings.  
  
Lilera gasped, and blinked to make sure she had seen it right.  
  
She had seen that bracelet in her book! Her parents also knew and spoke of it in awe. It was a nearly omnipotent talisman that could distort and negate magic, rendering a sorcerer powerless and vulnerable.  
  
Tears spilled down Lilera's cheeks at the thought of the girl slaughtering the defenseless sorcerers with its help.  
  
The battle persisted. The girl moved swiftly and blithely, like a dancer, as though the rage and brutality of demon magic was her muse. The intense and fatal brawl was almost like child's play to her. She was so graceful for such a destructive and bloody battle -- like an angel of death.  
  
That's when an excruciating slicing sound seemed to cut the air.  
  
Lilera's eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat.  
  
In one arching motion, the girl had stabbed the sorcerer in the ribs.  
  
A sadistic grin spread across her face as she beheld the terror on the sorcerer's. She leaned forward a bit and yanked her sword out, releasing a spray of crimson droplets. She watched with pleasure and pride as the sorcerer fell to the ground.  
  
Though Lilera thought she might have been going insane, she could swear she heard the girl snicker coldly.  
  
Somehow...even with the terrified, unrestrained screaming, the merciless carnage, the clashing of swords...the night seemed to carry a cold silence.  
  
The starless, velvety black sky seemed to rain blood.  
  
Lilera was sure she was in Hell.  
  
"Sabir!" Lilera heard a piercing female scream.  
  
A young woman with long red hair in a blue gown rushed to the dying sorcerer's side.  
  
His wife.  
  
She cupped Sabir's cheek in her hand. Tears streamed out of her periwinkle eyes.  
  
"Kiria..." Sabir breathed, then faintly whispered something that Lilera couldn't make out.  
  
Kiria burst into tears. "I...love you too..." she choked.  
  
Sabir lay still. Kiria covered her face with her hands and sobbed hard.  
  
The murderess still lingered. She watched the lovers with condescendence and laughed at the maudlin display, at Kiria's lachrymose goodbye.  
  
Upon noticing, Kiria looked up and frowned at the girl with intense wrath. She scrambled to her feet, and swung her arm back, about the slap the girl, but the girl swiftly grabbed her wrist just in time and held on tight, Kiria's hand frozen over her cheek. She smirked.  
  
Kiria wordlessly stared at her for a few moments, appalled, tears streaming down her face. She coughed and sputtered, wracked with sobs.  
  
The girl frowned and pushed her away. "Go. Live." She finally spoke. "It's what your husband would want." She turned and started to walk away.  
  
"WAIT!" Kiria screamed. "Tell me your name! Let me know the name of my husband's killer!"  
  
The girl stopped and turned a bit.  
  
A blackbird cawed and swiftly traversed the sky.  
  
The girl looked up innocently at it, then back at Kiria.  
  
"Blackbird."  
  
She paused, then turned to walk away. Kiria stood frozen for a moment, then ran away.  
  
Lilera quickly hid behind the wall as Blackbird passed by. But it was too late.  
  
She turned to face Lilera with the murderous gleam still in her eyes, and raised her crimson-bathed sword.  
  
Lilera froze, and backed against the wall, the palm of her hand against the cold brick. She looked at Blackbird with blank, shocked eyes and awaited her end, her pulse throbbing.  
  
But she felt nothing. She didn't feel the sword go through her. She didn't even hear it meet her body, or Blackbird's malicious laughter.  
  
Was she numbed from shock?  
  
No.  
  
Blackbird hadn't even stabbed her.  
  
Lilera blinked, clearing her vision, to see Blackbird standing motionless, staring at her. Lilera felt a wave of astonishment rush over her to see all the sadism and thirst for blood gone from Blackbird's expression. Her eyes seemed to carry almost...guilt. Lilera puzzled at her conflicted nature. Blackbird simply stared at Lilera with wide eyes...  
  
...Then walked away. Without a word. Into the rosy sunrise, her feet brushing the bloody entrails strewn on the ground. Lilera watched until she vanished around the corner of the brick building.  
  
She was too stricken to even think on it. She looked around her to see everyone gone. Meron had left her side, and not a soul remained. They must have all taken off in fear. Lilera was alone in the dead city, surrounded by a torturous silence.  
  
She sank to the ground, lowered her face into her knees, and let the tears fall endlessly. Moments, or maybe an eternity later, she felt someone pick her up and carry her away back to the palace. She didn't know who it was. They hadn't said a word and left before she could see them.  
  
She fell asleep at some point, and woke up in her chamber in the palace. Everyone seemed strangely calm and the day went on, as though nothing had happened. Lilera wondered if she was the only one affected by it, or if the others just didn't want to talk or think about it.  
  
Inside her, in the searing, consuming fire within her, thoughts of the night plagued Lilera's mind.

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be the prologue of "Venom," a Carciphona fanfic I had been writing, but I had no idea what the storyline of "Venom" would be XD I just knew that there would be a lot of Blackbird, and Veloce and the others would be included. This had really nothing to do with "Venom" anyways, so I detached it as a separate fanfic.
> 
> I worked SO HARD on this for a MONTH at the time that I wrote it when I was 16. I wrote it freely, then nitpicked like there was no tomorrow, fixing every last error, typo, awkward word, sentence fragment, run-on sentence, you name it.
> 
> Physical description of Blackbird from here http://carciphona.com/characters.php?page=blackbird DON'T WINK AT ME, BB *stares*
> 
> \- This is NOT a plothole -  
> I mentioned that Blackbird appeared to be no more than thirteen years old. I guesstimate Blackbird to be about eighteen now, and the Prohibition was passed five years ago (from present-day Carciphona), a year after Blackbird killed a number of esteemed sorcerers. So eighteen minus five is thirteen :)
> 
> IMPORTANT DETAIL: Why didn't Blackbird kill Lilera? Partly because even evil has standards; killing a man, even one with a wife and possibly children, is different from killing a traumatized little girl...especially when said little girl very closely resembles Blackbird's younger sister, another OC of mine (I know, that's a HUGE cliché, but it sounded to me like a good idea at the time XD).
> 
> I do not own Blackbird, Meron Lantgres, anybody in Carciphona, or Carciphona itself. They are owned by Shilin Huang. LordofStupidity, an old DA friend of mine, named Sabir and Kiria.
> 
> I DO own Lilera.
> 
> Go read Carciphona here http://carciphona.com/


End file.
